rush limbaugh loses seven big advertisers over calling a law student a slut. and new polls suggest the focus on birth control is leading women to flee the party. insult on injury. snowy weather heaps more misery on survivors shell shocked by one of the largest tornado outbreaks ever reported in this country. i'm thomas roberts great to have you with me. topping the agenda, all eyes on the white house this morning. president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu locked in what could be intense discussions on how to handle the growing threat that the iranian nuclear program poses. the prime minister arrives for his ninth and most-critical meeting with president obama. he made his support for israel very clear at the policy conference on sunday. take a listen. >> when the chips are down, i have israel's back. the leaders should understand i

do not have a policy of containment. i have a policy to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. moving forward, i would ask we all remember the weightiness of these issues. the stakes involved for israel, for america, and for the world. already there's too much lose talk of war. >> the white house press secretary just tweeted the president will be holding a news conference tomorrow with the white house press corps. but nbc news correspondent andrea mitchell joins me right now. strong words from the president over the weekend. but what needs to be addressed today as president obama meets with the prime minister to discuss the relationships, the tense ones, that we have between the two countries? >> this will be a long meet iin.

they have a lot of details to go through. the president has been trying to send two messages. one to iran that he's not bluffing and will take action. and to the prime minister, the u.s. has his back, has israel's back. iran going nuclear is not acceptable. that a containment policy of living with a nuclear iran is not acceptable to president obama. that president obama will speak softly but carry a big stick, channelling teddy roosevelt. but also saying there has been too much lose talk about war. and suggesting that that is not helping anyone but iran by increasing oil prices, which does help iran as an oil produce er. those are the messages. but the hard work of this meeting, this is going to be trying to narrow the gap between israel and the united states about how do you define iran having a nuclear capability? how do you define how far either country is willing to let iran go with its nuclear program,

which iran says is not a nuclear weapons program. but how far are they able to go with their nuclear advances before israel believes they are capable of quickly swinging into action and producing a weapon and what is the lead time the u.s. is willing to tolerate? there's a big gap there. >> on the right, republicans have been blasting the president on his policy towards iran. take a listen to this. >> israel is such a small country. it's so compact in population that two or three at the most four nuclear weapons would be a second holocaust. >> lose talk of republicans, an iran without a nuclear weapon and a new iranian regime. either of which is doing much about to make happen. >> it's pretty straight forward. if president obama gets reelected, iran will have a nuclear weapon and the world will change if that's the case. >> three of the gop contenders, you hear them talking we're

heading for a nuclear war. do you think that benjamin netanyahu trusts the u.s. to have his back like president obama says? >> i think that the real audience is also the domestic audience here. this is a big political issue. in our nbc poll today, a majority of people favor military action to stop iran from getting a nuclear weapon. but more people believe that israel should do this than the united states should. so there's a much, much less support for american military action. this isn't a time when the u.s. is war weary and we're trying to wind down in afghanistan. so this is a very big political issue. it's an attempt by the republicans, all three of the republican leading candidates to, because ron paul is an outliar on foreign policy, but three of the republican

candidates, santorum, romney, and gingrich have been beating up on the president. we have yet to see the video that's going to be fed in shortly, but what the president said in opening this meeting in the oval office, is we're told this comes at a critical time. big changes. israel is an island of democracy. but the bond is unbreakable. this is an important point the president is making. they are going to talk about regional issues. there have been a lot of changes in the past year. the arab spring and how israel sees that as creating more risks in what's happening next door in syria. but that we all know the president said to benjamin netanyahu that it's unacceptable for israel to have a country next door with a nuclear weapon. so that close by, i shouldn't say next door. so that's the initial reporting we're getting out of this oval office meeting. it's going to be an interesting day. >> andrea, great to see you.

you can watch andrea every day at 1:00 p.m. eastern. right here on msnbc. the final countdown to super tuesday on the road to the gop nomination. there's no bigger single haul. 424 delegates. the two men vying for the top spot ready to fight r every last one. >> we're going to have 11 state its up for grabs on tuesday. i think i'm going to get the majority of the delegates out of that process. i sure hope so. >> this is a game of survivor. we're doing as well as anybody in all of these races. we're either first or second in most of the races out there. i think that's going to be a good super tuesday for us. >> a new "wall street journal" poll shows a horse race in the final hours. mitt romney is in the lead, but rick santorum is right on his heels. my panel this morning. former governor ted strickland,

and lois romanromano. i want to start with you, john. mitt romney is up with those describing themselves as tea partiers. those usually have been backing rick santorum. but the number one criticism is that romney waffles on issues. what mitt romney need to do tomorrow and if he wins ohio or even tennessee, is it over? is he the one? >> i think mitt romney has to do what he's continuing to do, which is grind it out. for him, he said it right. it's about the delegates. he has done pretty well so far. he won michigan. he tied the delegates. for him, he has the best organization possible. he doesn't really need to do beyond that. he needs to keep it slow and steady and win as many delegates as possible on super tuesday. >> lois, the poll showing the toll that the gop race has taken

on republicans warning that 40% have a less favorable view of the party. when asked for a word to describe, some said discouraged, painful. obviously, this betting process is a birthing process that is painful. but how much of this race has damaged the republican party going into the general? >> i think it's had a negative impact on them. that's why you're seeing now the the romney people making a huge push in the last three days to go to conservatives, to go to party leaders and say let's wrap this thing up. they came off a very bad week where they totally got off message. and everybody is on contraception. and part of their problem was rush limbaugh attacking the student from georgetown. that is a huge issue. first of all, 90% of american women are on contraception. and they don't -- they are not following all the ins and outs of the argument. it looks like republicans are

against contraception. so they need to wrap this up quickly. we're looking at a period in time when obama's favorabilities are improving and the economy is improving. if they keep fighting this out, fighting their alligators, they are not going to go into the general very strong. >> governor, as a cochair for the the obama reelection team, you have to be really happy seeing what's taking place. the president leads all four republicans in potential head to head matchups. his job approval rating is at 50%. when we look at if mitt romney locks this up, then don't we see this all tightening up, especially like in places like ohio? >> it will be a tight race in ohio. there's no doubt about that. no candidate can ever take ohio for granted. but i can tell you, i think the president is in good shape in ohio in part because of his saving of the auto industry. it's a big deal in ohio. youngstown, toledo, hundreds of thousands of jobs have been saved. jobs are being added.

and i think people are feeling pretty good about what's happening in terms of the general economy. and i think the president is going to do well in ohio come november. >> all right. panel, standby. ohio is an important contest. the most important on super tuesday. these two polls that really highlight how close this race is. our nbc poll showing santorum inching ahead. but a new poll this morning have been the front runners flipped with romney inching ahead in the crucial battleground state. is it so crucial in november? john braybender joins us. it's great to have you here once again. let's get to it. your candidate came up short, but very close in michigan. mitt romney is on a roll. five-state it winning streak. the latest cover of "the new

yorker", fst santorum in the dog house on the roof of mitt romney's car. talking about the family pet on the top of the car. does rick santorum have to win ohio or an ohio loss the beginning of the end for your candidate? >> i don't think so. there were new numbers that came out today that showed that between mitt romney and his super pac that they have spent over $11 million in ohio. rick santorum's campaign and his super pac have spent approximately $1 million. so we're being outspent there. yet the polls show it's dead even. in light of that, the bigger question is what's wrong with mitt romney that he can spend all that type of money and can't do better? everybody said if you don't do well in iowa, you're done. the truth of the matter is, this is still the first quarter. i'm sure that the romney people would love to call the game after the first quarter just like a lot of teams would like to have done that in the super

bowl. but this has a long way to go. frankly, there's a lot of big states that should have their say in this thing. one is including pennsylvania, rick santorum's home state. we went to mitt romney's home state of michigan and got outspent by 6 to 1 and romney eked out a victory in his home state, even spending all sorts of money like that. there's a lot of ways to go in this thing. it's more beneficial to republicans to let it play out than to shortchange these states. >> i want to talk to a few of the areas where your candidate is struggling. it's down double digits to mitt romney with women. down over 20 points with moderate republicans. these are voters that your candidate santorum is going to need to compete in the general election. has the tack towards the social issues crippled the santorum campaign with the key voters and trying to bring them back under his tent? >> there's a couple ways to look at this. the number one the poll just

release in the last hour has rick santorum back on top by one point in ohio. number two is i don't think it's as much that rick santorum has a problem with moderates as it has that mitt romney has with conservative voters because he's had such a moderate record. i'm not surprised that mitt romney does much better among the more liberal in the republican party than rick santorum does. but i do think that whoever the nominee, we'll get these people to unify in the end. >> john braybender, thank you for joining us. back to the panel now. lois, i want to start with you after listening to that and knowing the nbc "wall street journal" poll takes a closer look at the female vote. it shows a shift of national women voters in the gop. in particular, suburban women who went over to the democrats.

we have been reporting on rush limbaugh's comments about the georgetown law student. is it all catching up? are we seeing a backlash on the stance on women's issues? >> absolutely. i'm not saying they can't get it back, but i think the rush limbaugh debacle last week was incredibly damaging to the party. president obama kept it on the front page by calling the young woman. so they have some issues here. as we all know, elections are actually really decided by 12% of the population. and those 12% are swing voters and independents. they tend to be more moderate on social issues. they do not want to be mired in this debate on contraception. >> john, what does the party need to do to attract voters as opposed to repel them? >> they should stop talking about contraception. i agree with lois on that. one thing that's clear is rush limbaugh doesn't speak for the republican party. he certainly doesn't speak for

mitt romney. but to appeal to women voters, what you need to do is talk in practical terms. republicans have to get off the ideology and talk about practicality. >> thanks to the panel this morning. i want to get to the important meeting that the president is having with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. let's listen in. >> it's rock solid. and as i have said to the prime minister in every single one of our meetings, the united states will always have israel's back when it comes to israel's security. this is a bond that's based not only on our mutual security interests and economic interests, but is also based on common values and the incredible people to people contacts that we have between our two countries. during the course of this meeting, we'll talk about the regional issues that are taking place. and i look forward to the prime

minister sharing with me his ideas about how we can increase the prospects of peace and security in the region. we will discuss the issues that continue to be a focus of not only our foreign policy, but also the prime minister's. how we can potentially bring about a calmer set of discussions between the israelis and palestinians and arrive at a peaceful resolution to that long standing conflict. it's a difficult thing to do in light of the context right now, but i know that the prime minister remains committed to trying to achieve that. and obviously, a large topic of conversation will be iran, which i devoted a lot of time to in my speech yesterday. and i know the prime minister focused on for a long period of

time. let me just e reiterate a couple points on that. number one, we all know it's unacceptable from israel's perspective to have a country with a nuclear weapon that has called for the destruction of israel. but as emphasized yesterday, it's profoundly in the united states interest to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. we do not want the possibility of a nuclear weapon falling into the hands of terrorists. and we do not want a regime that's been a state sponsor of terrorism being able to feel that it can act even more aggressively as a consequence of its nuclear power. that's why we have worked so diligently to set up the most crippling sanctions ever, with respect to iran. we believe there's still a window that allows for a

diplomatic resolution to this issue. but ultimately, the iranians regime has to make a decision to move in that direction. a decision that they have not made thus far. and as i emphasized, even as we'll continue on the diplomatic front, we'll continue to tighten pressure when it comes to sanctions. i reserve all options and my policy is not going to be one of containment. my policy is prevention of iran obtaining nuclear weapons. and as i indicated yesterday in my speech when i say all options are on the table, i mean it. having said that, i know that both the prime minister and i prefer to resolve this diplomatic diplomatically. we understand the costs of any military action. i want to assure both the american people and the israeli people that we are in constant

consultation. i think the levels of coordination and consultation between our militaries and our intelligence not just on this issue, but on a broad range of issues, has been unprecedented. i intend to make sure that continues during what will be a series of difficult months, i suspect, in 2012. prime minister, we welcome you and we appreciate very much the friendship of the israeli people. you can count on that friendship always being reciprocated from the united states. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> mr. president, thank you for those kind words. and thank you, too, for that strong speech yesterday. and i want to thank you for the warm hospitality you have shown me and my delegation. the alliance between our two

countries is deeply appreciated by me and by everyone in israel. and i think that as you said when americans look around the middle east today, they see one reliable, stable, faithful ally of the united states, and that's the democracy of israel. americans know that israel and the united states share common values that we defend common interests, we face common enemies. iran's leaders know that too. you know, for them, you're the great satan. we are the little satan. and you know something, mr. president? at least on this last point, they are right. we're together. so if there's one thing that stands out clearly in the middle east today, it's that israel and america stand together.

i think that above and beyond that, our two principles of american policy that you reiterated yesterday in your speech that israel must have the ability always to defend itself, by itself, against any threat. when it comes to israel's security, israel has the right, the sovereign right to make its own decisions. i believe that's why you'll appreciate that israel must reserve the right to defend itself. and after all that, that's the very purpose so to restore to the jewish people control over our destiny. and that's why my supreme responsibility as prime minister of israel is to ensure that israel remains the master of its fate. so i thank you very much, mr. president, for your friendship and i look forward to our

discussions. thank you, mr. president. >> thank you very much. thank you, everybody. >> you're listening to the press inside of the oval office as the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu meets with president obama. they are now behind closed doors with the press outside of the oval office. but this just giving us an insight into the energy and the discussions that are about to take place. what obviously is going to be topic number one is iran and the nuclear ambitions of that country. the president saying to benjamin netanyahu that we welcome you and appreciate the friendship of the israeli people and we will always have israel's back. the interesting thing that the israeli prime minister just said there, and you probably perked your ears up too, when the prime minister said how iran regards the united states saying to the pot from iran's perspective, you're the great satan and we are the little satan. israel is worried about the nuclear ambitions of iran.

a country that dedicated itself saying that israel is a kocount that needs to be destroyed. israel is saying they want to do what it can to remain the master of its own fate. but wants to work very closely with the united states in those efforts. force is not an option that's off the table, but the president stressing that diplomacy is most likely the way he would want to go in toppling these issues that concern israel right now in the fact that the country of iran has these nuclear ambitions. no one is quite clear how close iran is in its nuclear capabilities currently. they would like the world to think they are further along than they really are. we'll have a lot more from this meeting coming up in a moment when we talk with aaron miller. then we'll have a briefing as well. i think we're going to get mike vikara. we're going to talk to him later on.

go home or go to your church. this march will not continue. >> nearly 47 years ago, bloody sunday, the march from selma, alabama, helped galvanize civil rights leaders and paved the way for the voting rights act. now the reverend al sharpton and other leaders are retracing that trek to highlight what they call a new assault on voting minority rights. joining me now is al sharpton. he's the founder and president of the national action network. it's great to see you this morning. this march began on sunday to focus on the immigration laws in modern times with eight states requiring an i.d., what's the march represent to you and where does it fit into the historical context of the civil rights movement? >> well, it means to me that we

that are on the ground now and that are involved in the national civil rights community have to deal with the challenges of today. i have come for the last several years following congressman john lewis as many congressional members do to commemorate what happened 47 years ago when he was beaten on this bridge in selma and led to the voting rights act when martin luther king jr. led the march. not only do we commemorate yesterday, but we have challenges right now. so many of us out here now are saying that this voter i.d. law, the laws to stop early voting or at least cut the days down, to stop sunday voting, are laws that will undermine and undercut the voting rights act of '65 in a more frontal way. this march is to dramatize that. when we get to montgomery on

friday, we'll lay out the legal and legislative strategy to combat it. >> reverend, i want to give everybody the geographical context of where you are. you are along route 80 where dr. king marched. as we look back at bloody sunday from 1965, we see the brutality of the police to those who were fighting for minority rights. how do you get voters to see the parallels, the modern fight, which is not marked by that type of violence, but it does need to still be discussed with the same amount of importance. >> well, i think that the bloody sunday, we will not see blood, but we will see blockage at the ballot booth. when you have five million people that will be disenfranchised that voted and now will not be able to vote, what will happen when election time comes and people who don't

have state i.d.s are blocked from voting. what will happen in terms of the congressional races and the senate races and the presidential races? so we're coming before there is a problem to say, wait a minute. people are being disenfranchised. there's no reason to do this other than to suppress the vote. it makes getting peoples' attention more difficult, but the ramifications are more long standing because if we don't turn these laws around now, people will be permanently disenfranchised, and that's not tolerable. >> after all these years, why are we still having to debate voter suppression and having to draw peoples' attention to the fact this still exists so many years later? >> because it is still a challenge. i think that you're absolutely right. all of us would love to be doing something better than marching down highway 80 on a monday morning all the way to friday. but i think we have the

challenge of if you look at 2000, it was hanging charge in florida that decided the election. these voter i.d. laws, the early voting days being lessened can tip the scale on this election this year. so it's ironic that on super tuesday week, we're now focusing on, wait a minute. many will be super left out if we don't correct the voter laws. you're right. it's a shame we're still arguing about this 47 years later, but it would be more of a shame if we let people turn back the clock and we didn't raise our voice and debate this issue. >> al sharpton, thank you. you can catch the reverend when he hosts "politics nation" weeknights here on msnbc. thank you, again. president obama meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in the oval office right now. topping the agenda, the tensions with iran. we'll have an inside look.

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it's the work of mother nature in the midwest. whole towns erased from the map. homes and businesses laid to waste. dozens of lives lost. 80 total tornadoes, one of the largest outbreaks ever recorded in u.s. history. to give you an idea of the scope of these storms, this is amateur video showing a twister moments before it ravaged henryville, indiana. one of the victims there, baby angel died on sunday despite hopes they would see this baby girl survive. earlier on "the today show," her

neighbor spoke about the devastating loss. >> knowing all five of them didn't make it and i'm the only one that did is really hard on me. i feel some sense of guilt for bringing them into my house and then they died from there. but at the same time, i think trar trailer would not have been safer. it also disappeared. i just can't believe the rest of them didn't make it. it's sad to hear the whole family passed away and i was holding their hands two seconds before they died. >> just heartbreaking. 39 died in the storms. the death toll stretches across five states. 21 in kentucky. 13 in indiana. three in ohio. one each in alabama and georgia. and today snow is adding insult to injury. while it's only a couple inches, the weight of it is the last thing people living there need. just take a look at what it looks like when weather like that breaks out. nbc is lucky to have experts to

give us context on this. tom costello joins me from henryville. we have been watching as people were trying to clean up quickly after this. but then they get socked by snow. the destruction there unimaginable. >> reporter: yeah. as if these folks haven't been through enough, this is typical through this whole town here. this kind of destruction. this is somebody's house. somebody's life is here. all of their personal belongings are strewn about here. now before they can even get through it and start picking up the pieces, whether it's a photo album or maybe it's a favorite sweater from a child, now it's in the snow. it's the scene across southern indiana. it's heartbreaking. there are good people who have come to help. i want to bring in tony mcken nan. there's so many organizations around that have come in, complete strangers, to help. you are a christian

organization, but it's all about help. what's the greatest need now? >> the greatest need now is obviously shelter. we can't obviously give that. we give hot meals, drink, we just want to do what we can. just to lift the spirt of these people. the devastation is obvious. >> reporter: you helped them pick through the pieces as best you can. >> people were looking for momentos. just personal items. they want to find them and keep them. it's memories. we help in any way we can. >> reporter: thank you for the work you do. and we should say there's so many organizations like that. the red cross is here. the national guard is here. obviously, the state patrol is here in a strong show of force. but many organizations. some are religiously-affiliated. many are not. all here to do their best. this may be one of the occasions when if you're sitting at home wondering how to help, get on to

the website. get on to the website of the red cross or a charity that will do the best they can on the ground. donate whatever it takes. it will go an awful long way to helping people in communities like this in southern indiana and kentucky. back to you. >> tom, thank you. the united states will always have israel's back when it comes to israel's security. it's in the united states' interest to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. we do not want to see a nuclear arms race. >> that was just moments ago. president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu putting their cards on the table in a critical discussion regarding the next steps about iran's nuclear program and whether the two leaders can reach common ground. benjamin netanyahu told the president early on their nations stand together.

>> we share common ground. we defend common interests. we face common enemies. iran's leaders know that too. for them, you're the great satan. we're the little satan. for them, we are you and you are us. and you know something, mr. president? at least on this last point, i think they are right. we are you, and you are us. >> joining me is mike vicara and david miller. gentlemen, good to have you here. mike, i want to start with you. you were inside that room. explain the energy between these two leaders. what was it like? as we all know, it's been tense in the past. >> absolutely. they have had a rocky relationship, as i'm sure david miller will tell you. it's the ninth face to face meeting between the two leaders. the last time the prime minister lectured president obama in

public on the history of the israeli and palestinian conflict. i was inside the room. it's hard to discern a mood when it's packed with reporters jostling and the two men are making statements to cameras. it's hard to overstate the stakes that are involved here, thomas. a lot of people are talking as if when, and not a question if, israel is going to strike those nuclear sites. you heard the president there ask for more diplomacy. he made the big speech yesterday. he stands behind israel. he said i have israel's back and there's no question about the fact that all options are on the table. the president talking tough saying i mean what i say. at the same time, he said there's too much lose talk of war. the president is expected to ask for more diplomacy and more time. he said the sanctions are

biting. there are more sanctions to come. iran can be brought to heel possibly through the use of those sanctions, thomas. >> thank you, mike. i want to bring in aaron david miller. when we talk about that relationship between these two powerful global figures, i want to point out to everybody this excerpt you wrote. "the president doesn't trust the prime minister and sees him as a con man. the prime minister in turn views the president as bloodless and too emotionally disconnected. he doesn't understand. he's not alone in that." how fragmented is this relationship? how much do they have to overcome to strike a united front? one that is genuine? >> it will be one of the best meetings they have ever had, i suspect, even though the relationship has been rocky. probably one of the rockiest since i have been watching israeli prime ministers.

in large part, there are personality differences. benjamin netanyahu is confident. the president is morer sur ree. it has poisoned the u.s.'s relationship. but i think despite all of that, that this will be a good meeting. neither man wants a fight. neither man can afford a fight. it has less to do with political reasons than policy reasons. the president is trying to square a circle. benjamin netanyahu wanted a green light to attack. the president wants a red light. i don't think there's an answer for that right now. but i do think both of these guys have a real stake in displaying a very united front. the last thing they want is daylight between their positions. they want to send an unmistakable signal to the iranians that pressure is going to be ratcheted up and at some

point, there may be military action. that in the end may well be the case. we're drifting towards a confrontati confrontation. i don't think it has to happen this year, but if the iranians persist, since this is an american interest, military action will have to be taken. >> great to see you, aaron. thank you. >> pleasure. all four republican presidential hopefuls have a different super tuesday strategy. we just have hours to go now. but when you think about this, so many delegates at stake. so many states, there are expectations that could signal another surge or be the beginning of the end for multiple candidates. senior political editor mark murray joins me to talk about this. everybody looks to look at the delegate count and try to hash it all out. just a huge number for the candidates tomorrow. what's considered a successful day for the romney and santorum camps going into tomorrow? >> well, it's all about the delegate math. if the mitt romney campaign can

rack up 180 to maybe 200 out of the 424 delegates at stake on super tuesday, i think they will be very happy with that. thomas, when you start doing the math, you're going to see the romney folks will rack up a lot of delegates. in massachusetts, his home state. also in virginia where he's the only republican on the ballot in addition to ron paul. he might end up getting all 46 delegates there. that's really the romney strategy. when you look to rick santorum, he's trying to win a contest in oklahoma and tennessee, the southern states, wells pull off the biggest prize of them all, ohio. >> we shall see. you can get in-depth information on the latest nbc polls and super tuesday states at firstread.com.

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if if you have been watching "morning joe." you probably witnessed a testy exchange between chris christie. chris christie vetoed the legislative bill that came before him about marriage equality in the state of new jersey. take a look at this. >> the president and the justice department made it clear that they believe that the so-called defensive marriage act is unconstitutional. they are not supporting it in any of the court cases going through the federal court system. as president of the united states told us -- would you support that? >> he's told lawyers -- >> hold on. >> first of all, i used to be a prosecutor. i'm not going to be cross-examined by you this morning. secondly, you're going to lose. let's move on. >> jonathan capart joins me as

washington post writer. what got you to that point of the conversation is the fact the governor said he stands within the same position as president obama. that got you riled up to give him that response. but now this has also inspired the latest piece that talks about the fact that lgbt equality rights resembles the rights for african-americans. what are the correlations that you draw that match that up? >> this comes from the end of that conversation in that interview with chris christie where harold ford and i were asked, is there a similarity between the two? and i said, yes. because overall, both communities are struggling for equal dignity and respect and also equal protection under the law. so in the piece that i have on

washingtonpost.com, it shows flat out where the similarities are. why the struggles are the same. one, blacks and gays have been targeted for who they are. just in 1998 we had the dragging death of james bird in texas by white supremacists. five months later, october 1998, matth matthew shepard was targeted because he was gay and left on a fence in wyoming. where african-americans have been denied is well documented in american history. but gays and lesbians, up and down the board, are being denied equal protection under the law. particularly as we started out this segment, when it comes to marriage equality. >> let's talk about that. the new poll shows this huge change in voter opinion with more people supporting gay marriage than ever before in the u.s. 49% to 40%. that's a total reversal from

2009 where 49% opposed. as we see this surge forward and quickly as it is, now in eight states where you can get married legally in this country, maryland being the latest. you can't do it until 2013. but when we talk about how fast this is advancing and then you draw the correlations, you are getting a lot of kickback from the african-american community. i'm seeing it on twitter. a lot of people reaching out to you today saying hold up. this does not sit with me. but you talk about the fact it's integrity and equality, can they see where the line is blurred? >> quite frankly, there was one person on twitter who initially when she saw we were going to be talking about this said flat out there's no connection whatsoever. and i asked her to please read the piece. please see what i'm talking about here. and once she did, she wrote back and said, you know what? i see what you're saying.

i agree with you. i understand what you're talking about. and this is why i think we have seen the poll numbers flip from 41% in favor to 49% in favorgra marriage equality. as we talk about the issues, and as we talk about shared struggles of people just trying to live the american dream to its fullest, peep come around and say, you know what? my neighbors and my cousin and brother and sister, they are being held back because of who they are. >> thank you, sir, a great piece and everyone can check it out. jonathan's piece about marriage equality and the civil rights struggle. we are back after this. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future.

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>> all right, you went to go see it because it was a record busting weekend at the box office for "the lorax" it took in $70.5 million, that making it the best showing for an animated film since 2010. universal pictures is a division of nbc universal. mitt romney got help from a political dynasty. robo calls will be running in two of the super tuesday states by barbara ambitious, ohio and vermont. >> we have known the romneys for years and believe mitt is the best man to lead the country for the next four years and ann will make a great first lady. >> that is barbara bush, mrs. bush donated the maximum amount to mitt romie, be $2500. according according comics at saturday

night live. >> i'm happier than -- >> yum. >> shoes must be made out of chocolate because you keep putting your foot in your mouth. my shoes are made of a fine italian leather and they were $12 hundred a piece. they cost more than most americans make in a month. i'm doing it again. >> the rick santorum's wife said she has his back in public but in private lets him know what he thinks. she urged him to tone it down a little bit after the snob kma comment and he did. >> i'll see you back here tomorrow. stick with msnbc for is super tuesday coverage all day tomorrow, and tomorrow night. "now" is coming up next, and there is alex to tell you what

is coming up, hey, alex? >> hey, thomas, no word on chocolate shoes today but a lot on deck. the president and prime minister netanyahu are meeting today. does -- on the 2012 campaign trail, polls showing romney with a healthy lead in the ohio primary. are rush limbaugh's comments being used for political gain? we will examine that and more when "now" starts. with arthritis pain... a load of new listings... and two pills. after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills. the evening showings bring more pain and more pills. sealing the deal... when, hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. it can relieve pain all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lois... who chose two aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain.

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